Spanakopita

02

When I did the reader poll a few months ago, one of the most common answers for what you’d like to see more of were Greek recipes. Given my blog’s moniker, I don’t blame you.

I’ve had a hard-ish time expanding the Greek repertoire on here because the blog’s been around for so long that I’ve posted nearly every Greek dish I’ve had growing up (okay except maybe gemista, which I cannot for the life of me get right). There can be variations on common dishes, surely, but I often hesitate to call some things “Greek” when really they may be fusion or the only Greek thing about them is feta (a pet peeve of mine) — and, anyway, I’d  have the European Blog Police on my hands for anything they did not deem 1 million percent authentic (you laugh, but this is the life of a food blogger). Plus, as you know, I’ve learned to make so many things by sight that sometimes I truly do not document ingredient amounts, not exactly suitable for a recipe site.

With spanakopita, it’s sort of a combination of many things. We don’t eat the traditional version often. I often prefer the smaller versions, whether “cheater” spanakopita, which are nice for when you don’t want to work with phyllo,  or spanakopites and tyropites (cheese pies), which are great for appetizers/bringing to a potluck or dinnerparty (also: the crispy phyllo is the best part, so it’s nice to have it envelop everything. 🙂 And, the measuring thing. I basically never measure fresh herbs. Never. Even here I kinda sorta did, like more than normal, so I could write something down. Basically because I didn’t think “a shitload” of dill was necessarily an appropriate measurement for a blog.

Spanakopita is really not difficult to make at all. I’ve had issues with phyllo over the years but honestly, it’s been so much easier for me to work with lately so maybe those Greek genes finally kicked in. Ian is not the world’s biggest spanakopita fan, which is a bummer (he likes the mini pies well enough, though, because there is less spinach and more crispy phyllo), but Zachary is spanakopita-obsessed. He is often telling me I don’t make it enough. When I did this last time he made me promise to save him some because he not only wanted to take it to school for breakfast, but wanted to eat it alongside other dinners for the week.

Spanakopita

  • 20 minutes
  • 45 minutes
  • 8-12 servings

Ingredients

  • 5 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
  • 1 leek, white parts sliced and thoroughly washed
  • 3 green onions, sliced
  • 2 lbs. baby or regular spinach (remove any very rough stems from bundled spinach)
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed chopped dill
  • 1/4 cup loosely packed chopped parsley
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 lb. feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1/2 cup Myzithra or Romano cheese
  • 1/2 lb. phyllo dough
  • 4 Tbsp. butter

Directions

  1. Heat a large, deep saute pan or a pot over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and once hot, stir in the leek and onions. Sauté for 1-2 minutes before adding he spinach. Cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach has started to wilt, but not completely. Pour into a colander and drain any excess liquids, pressing the colander with a spoon or your fingers to wring out as much as possible.
  2. Place the spinach in a bowl with the dill, parsley, eggs, feta, Myzithra/Romano, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir just until thoroughly mixed.
  3. Meanwhile, heat the butter and remaining 4 tablespoons of oil in a small saucepan until the butter has melted.
  4. Preheat the oven to 375º. Brush the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish with the butter/oil mixture.
  5. If your phyllo is very large, cut the sheets to fit into the pan. Most will be about 1-2" too long, which is fine and you shouldn't bother cutting it. Lay a sheet of the phyllo into your greased baking dish, and brush with butter/oil. Place another sheet of phyllo on top (it's a good idea to cover the phyllo you are not yet using with a damp towel), and brush it with oil. Continue to do this until you have layered 8 sheets of phyllo.
  6. Spread the spinach mixture across the phyllo in the baking dish evenly. Place another sheet of phyllo on top, brush with oil/butter, and continue to do the same thing for 8 sheets. You can tuck and curl the overhang of the sheets to make sort of an an additional raised crust around the perimeter (be sure to brush the tops of those, too, with butter/oil).
  7. Take a sharp knife and score the top of the pie into squares or triangles. Place in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes, until phyllo is golden brown and crisp. Let stand for 10-15 minutes before following your scoring to cut slices and serve.
Elly Says Opa!
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